Category Archives: India

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28-31 July 2023

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India Chandrayaan-3 Successful TLI Will Propel Craft to Join USA, PRC, S Korea in Cislunar Space; Soon Followed by Russia, Japan

Rounding out July ‘International Space / Moon Month’ is TransLunar Injection (18:30-19:30 UTC 31 July / 00:00-01:00 IST 1 August) planned for Chandrayaan-3, setting it on course for lunar orbit, lander / propulsion-module separation 17 Aug, lunar touchdown 23 Aug; Luna-25 and SLIM landers may be on track for NET 10 Aug and 26 Aug respectively, while commercial Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines hope for 2023 launches; Continually operating are: landers CE-3 & CE-4, rover Yutu-2, and orbiters LRO, ARTEMIS P1 & P2, CE-4 Queqiao, Chandrayaan-2, CE-5-T1 Service Module, CAPSTONE & Danuri

Credits: NASA, CNSA, KARI, ISRO, Advanced Space

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 21-24 July 2023

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India, Russia and Japan Landers to Summer on Moon as USA Commercial Outfits Aim for Autumn / Winter

Chandrayaan-3 lander (449 kg dry) on track for 5th / final Earth orbit raising maneuver to be performed by ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network from Bengaluru 25 July between 14:00–15:00 IST, followed by lunar transfer 31 July and landing on lunar surface 23 August 17:47 IST; Roscosmos Luna-25 (800 kg) set for 11 Aug launch with Moon landing NET 20 Aug, being promoted with ‘Sonota’ mascot; JAXA SLIM (190 kg) to launch 26 Aug, demonstrate computer vision-based precision landing system; CLPS providers Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic preparing for Q4 launches

Credits: ISRO, Roscosmos, JAXA

Tuesday / 18 July 2023

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Chandrayaan-3 Operating Nominally as its Orbit is Raised in Preparation for Trans-Lunar Injection

ISRO is working to conduct next raising maneuver of Chandrayaan-3, which is currently maintaining 41,603 km x 226 km orbit; Apogee firing to occur 17 July between 14:00-15:00 IST will be 3rd of 5 such maneuvers prior to TLI, which is set for 31 July, followed by ~5.5-day transfer and Lunar Orbit Insertion around 5 Aug; Propulsion Module to maintain 100 x 100 km circular orbit while Vikram lander containing Pragyan rover to descend to MSP area surface from 100 x 30km lunar orbit

Credits: ISRO

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 14-17 July 2023

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India Moon Lander Launch Leads Wave of Back-to-Back-to-Back National Missions Headed to Moon

ISRO ~US$75M Chandrayaan-3 on Earth Centric Phase 1 of Moon transit, in which 5 orbital raising maneuvers are set to occur prior to Lunar Transfer Phase 2 and Moon Centric Phase 3-10 with lander & rover landing at MSP region (69.367°S, 32.348°E) NET 23 Aug and Propulsion Module placed in 100-km circular orbit; Roscosmos to launch Luna-25 on 11 Aug at 23:10 UTC with direct TLI route, possibly reaching MSP region landing site (69.545°S, 43.544°E) before Chandrayaan-3; JAXA Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) “Moon Sniper” launching with XRISM space telescope 26 Aug at 00:34:57 UTC

Credits: ISRO, JAXA, Roscosmos

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 30 June – 3 July 2023

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USA, China, Canada and India Crewed Moon Missions on Horizon

As 2023 second half begins, NASA seeking ≤ 60 kg lunar surface science payloads under Artemis III Deployed Instruments (A3DI) Program, with Step-1 proposals due 30 June, Step-2 due 31 Aug; CNSA Chang’E-7 team evaluating international payload proposals, expert review due 1 July, final tech confirmation 1 Sep; CMSE working to land Taikonauts via LM-9 / 10 in 2020s, build ILRS with construction starting NET 2026; Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, set to be first Canadian to fly by Moon NET Nov 2024, celebrates Canada Day 1 July; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 launching 13 July at 14:30 IST, human landings may be accelerated via Artemis / USA-India partnership

Credits: NASA, USA, China, Canada, India

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 June 2023

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India Aims for the Moon with Chandrayaan-3 and Artemis / Technology Partnership with USA

Chandrayaan-3 awaiting 8-day launch window opening 12 July at Satish Dhawan Space Centre / landing attempt at 4 x 2.4 km landing area at 69.367621°S, 32.348126°E; Science payloads to be utilized over 1-lunar day mission include Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) to characterize near surface lunar plasma; India to enhance lunar & space capabilities via Artemis membership and steps outlined in New Technology Partnership for the Future section of document issued by White House, which calls for facilitation of technology transfer and export control reform

Pictured (L-R): U.S. State Dept Deputy Assistant Secretary for India Nancy Jackson, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, India Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Sandhu, ISRO representative Krunal Joshi; Credits: NASA, ISRO
 

Friday / 23 June 2023

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India Joins Artemis as International Lunar Research Station Builds its Coalition for Sustained Moon Activity

India and Equador are the latest signatories to USA-led Artemis Accords, bringing total national membership to 27; ISRO-NASA human spaceflight cooperation plan to be detailed by end of 2023 including ISRO vyomanaut training at JSC, ISRO ISS mission & NISAR launch NET 2024 – partnership “spans the seas to the stars” per joint statement; ILRS reportedly welcoming new partner nations Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand (of Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization) and UAE (1st nation with dual Artemis / ILRS membership) while talks ongoing with 10+ other countries

Credits: NASA, ISRO, ILRS, CNSA, Roscosmos, Twiiter / @htTweets
 

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 28 Apr – 1 May 2023

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5 Space Agency / Independent Moon Landing Missions to Launch in Coming Months

Astrobotic Peregrine awaiting ULA launch readiness NET June following Centaur V anomaly; NPO Lavochkin preparing to transport Roscosmos Luna-25 to Vostochny Cosmodrome in first 10 days of June ahead of NET 13 July launch; Intuitive Machines aiming for summer launch of Nova-C; JAXA SLIM launching NET August pending investigation of probable short circuit / engine leak cause of H3 failure; ISRO Chandrayaan-3 pushed to 2024 per comments given by Union Minister Jitendra Singh; Lunar aspirants may consider consultation / collaboration with only successful 21st Century Moon surface operators at CNSA

Credits: Astrobotic, Roscosmos, IM, JAXA, ISRO, CNSA

Friday / 21 April 2023

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ISRO and Moon Village Association Holding Chandrayaan-3 Student Outreach Video Contest

Under theme Importance of Chandrayaan-3 Mission for India and the Global Moon Exploration and Settlement, in honor of former Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director S. Ramakrishnan (L), students around the world in 2 age groups (13-17 / 18-21) are invited to submit 2-3 minute videos accompanied by a transcript and 150-word biography in English; Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will be given within both categories, with Golds receiving free entry to 7th Global Moon Village Workshop & Symposium 6-10 Dec in Kurashiki and Tottori, Japan; Submissions due 31 May

Pictured: ISRO Director of Capacity Building and Public Outreach Sudheer Kumar (M),
MVA President Giuseppe Reibaldi (R); Credits: MVA, ISRO, IAF

Friday / 24 March 2023

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Chandrayaan-3 on Track for Mid-Year Launch, ISRO Chief Adamant on Precision Landing Near Manzinus Craters

Speaking at 3-day Indian Planetary Science Conference (IPSC) at Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad attended by ~225 delegates, ISRO Chairman S Somanath identifies precision landing near 70.83°S, 22.67°E as “primary objective” of Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission, adding that science objectives will remain largely similar to those of failed Chandrayaan-2 (study and mapping of lunar resources especially hydroxyl / water ice); Somanath also indicated ISRO-JAXA joint mission dubbed ‘LUPEX’ may proceed, Shukrayaan-1 Venus mission to launch NET 2028, and “meaningful” science rational for Gaganyaan human spaceflight program must be developed

Credits: ISRO